Growing (older) pains: Wobbly Margaritas

Start by dissolving your gelatin in cool water. I’m using sheet gelatin but powdered gelatin will work the same way.

The ratio for gelatin is 5 sheets of gelatin = one packet of unflavored gelatin.

As the gelatin sits in the cool water it begins to dissolve. Stirring will help this along. You can see my little jellyfish of gelatin is nearly gone by now.

To fully dissolve the gelatin, you’ll need to warm it. As the rest of the recipe calls for boiling water, I rigged this up. Boiling water in the bottom cup, gelatin water in the top cup. Carefully stirring for about a minute did the trick.

To give the classic lime color to the gelatin, I used 2 drops of green gel food coloring, and one of yellow. You can adjust the coloring to your particular vision of the perfect green. Adding the coloring to the boiling water will help it dissolve and blend easier.

Next, mix the lime powder and lemon powder together with the sugar, to avoid lumps. Add to the hot water. Stir until completely dissolved.

Add the hot and cold liquids together and pour into a medium sized bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

OR if you would like individual servings, pour the liquid into individual serving dishes and chill until firm. You can make 4 half cup servings, or 6 dessert shot servings.

If you still want to walk a bit on the wild side, you can serve the Wobbly Margaritas with Tequila whipped cream.

Begin whipping the cream until foamy. Lightly sprinkle in sugar to taste, and continue whipping until soft peaks form.

At this point, add 1-2 teaspoons to taste of your favorite tequila. Andrea was nice enough to pick up this little bottle for me, plenty for a couple of batches.

Continue to whip the cream to thick, stiff peaks.

Now, what’s a good margarita without a little salt. Since we are sophisticated older ladies and gentlemen, let’s use a sophisticated salt. Our Maldon salts are perfect topping salts. You can use the regular like I did, or try out the smoked salt.

Unless you plan to slurp your Wobbly Margarita from the glass, it’s best to skip the rim and sprinkle the salt right on top of the whipped cream. I know white on white isn’t the easiest to see, but there are some nice big salt flakes right there in the center of the picture.

So, whether you’re a young whippersnapper, feisty old coot or somewhere in between, take some time to try a Wobbly Margarita this summer.

MaryJane Robbins grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Vermont 20 years ago. After teaching young children for 15 years, she changed careers and joined King Arthur Flour in 2005. MaryJane began working on King Arthur Flour's baker’s hotline in 2006, and the blog team ...